Straight sided hat or cap and shaping means therefor



Feb. 11; '1958 M. T. GLASS ETAL ,8

STRAIGHT'SIDED HAT 0R CAP AND SHAPING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Oct. 12, 1956 INVENTORS M. 7'. GLASS E E. HOUGHTO/V ATTORNEY United States Patent STRAIGHT SIDED-HAT OR GAP AND SHAPING MEANSTHEREEOR Thomas- Glass, Grand. Prairie,- and Frank Ernest Houghton, Fort Worth, Tex.

Application October 12,1956, Serial No. 615,674.

2'Claims. (Cl. 2-495) The. invention. relates tov improvements in. hats. or caps, and more particularly to a shaped hat or cap, having straight instead of rounded sides, such as a hexagonal or octagonalhat, and to: a. shaper. or formholding device for such cap or like head wear designed to hold the cap in shape at all times, such form holding device or cap shaper comprising, in accordance with: the preferred embodiment of my invention, a spring strip: of concavoeconvex form in cross section such as is used, for example in the making of steel pocket rules. Another feature of the invention resides in means for" adjustably fastening the ends of the. spring strips together. The invention is'particularly applicable to military or uniform or uniform hats or caps in which neatness at all times is essential.

An object of the invention is to provide a shaper comprising an inner band or brace for uniform cap covers of hexagon or other similar shapes that have several straight sides rather than having a round or oval shape. Our improved band or brace will more correctly maintain and support the cover form as it was intended to be when the form was designed than any other type of shaper heretofore known to the art.

The band or brace is made of a strip of steel that has been slightly curved so that one side is concave and the other side is convex, such as the type that is used in the making of steel pocket rules. It is found that the character of these strips is such that when the two ends are fastened together and adjusted to the proper size of the cap cover with the concave side facing outward, they maintain rigidness along the straight sides of the cover and bend only at the corners. This gives the cover the form it was originally intended to have.

For fastening the two ends of the brace together and making it adjustable for various sizes the following.

method is used. There will be several indentations on each end of the strip with one end of the strip overlapping the other and the indentations so spaced that one or more of them will fit in one or more of the indentations on the opposite end. Then when the ends are correctly set for proper size a metal clamp will clip down over the two ends, fastening them securely together by two means.

First, the indentations are locked together, and secondly the metal clamp has straight sides so that it might force the convex-concave strip into a straight form, thereby bringing about a binding action at the point overlapment, both of which bring about a strong, simple and adjustable means of fastening the band or brace together.

There are several advantages to this band or brace; first, whereas old types of wire, wood, paper, etc. tend to curve the straight sides of the cap cover outward and straighten out the corners this one fits and maintains the proper form. Also, it has flexibility and will not bend out of shape but will snap back to proper form when pressed or hit on one side. It also helps hold the cover tight and up ofi the head. But mot of all it adds neatness and good wear to the appearance of the wearer such as no other type otfers.

ice.

Other. advantages of this device over previous and existing ones; are as follows:

A band of this sort serves to support and. maintain the-*formand shape of a. straight. sided cap cover, which the round or. oval types previously. employed: do'not do. They apply pressure'exactly inrreverse by tendingtopush out at the wrong places, causing. the cover to conform to a roundv shape when it was intended tobe of an octagonal or hexagonal shape.

Our improved shaping device is: of.'such character that itconforms exactly to the intended shape of the cap. It breaks or bends at the points and remains straight alongthestraight edges. Regardless of whether the sides ofthecoverareallthe same size or are irregular in length the band. will. still break at: the points of the edges and remain: straight. alongthe straight sides. It. will do. this regardless ofvther number of: sidesin the cover. It will maintain. perfectly, the intendedshape and form. of the cap cover.

Ourimproved shaping: device fit any size cover and is easily adjustable.

The flexibility of the devicecauses it to come back into. shape itpressure is. applied to any side or sides of it. It doesnot-bend out. of shape:

The-method of fasteningthe two ends. together is simple yetvery effective The simplicity of the design makes for low cost to the buyer.

Mainly our improved shaping device affords to the wearers of this type of cap a neatness and appearance that they have not previously been able to obtain, and also comfort inasmuch as it helps to keep the cover from draping on the head. In short, it does what a device of this type should doit conforms and supports the original shape and appearance of cap covers of this type.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description, in which a specific embodiment of the invention is set forth by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a uniform or military cap having a shaped cap cover embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view on a larger scale than Fig. 1 showing the shaped cap cover;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a spring shaper strip embodying my invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 showing the end fastening means; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded view showing the end fastening means of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral 10 denotes a uniform or military type hat or cap comprising a straight sided cover or top portion 11 having a stretchable band portions 12 equipped with buttons or snaps 13 to which may be detachably secured the usual hat band 14 equipped with coacting snap members, and in addition a suitable visor 15 may be provided. The above elements, with the exception of the cover shaping means to be described, are or may be of otherwise conventional construction.

As shown, the cover 11 is of cloth or other flimsy material provided with straight, as distinguished from rounded, sides 16, and it is the object of the present invention to maintain the form of such material at all times when the cap is in use. The cap may be octagonal in form, as shown, or may have any other desired number of sides without departing from our invention.

In accordance with our invention the shape of the cap cover is maintained by the use of a reinforcing spring strip 20 which is adapted to be bent to the desired shape,

and when so bent to maintain its shape and hold the cap in extended position. The strip is inserted into the top of the cap cover to the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Our improved reinforcing strip 20 is preferably of spring steel and, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, is of concave-convex cross section. Similar strips have been used in the making of steel pocket rules. We have found that such a strip is particularly adapted for our purpose since when bent in the manner indicated in Fig. 3 and its ends fastened together by suitable fastening means 21 sharp bends indicated at 22 will be maintained as long as desired, but their position may be changed by merely manipulating the strip with the fingers so that a bend already formed will disappear and a new bend at any desired position may be formed.

As shown, the opposite ends of the strip are provided with spaced indentations 23 which are adapted to interfit as indicated in Fig. 4, and when a suitable fastener or clamp 21 is secured thereover the strip will be maintained in any desired adjusted position to fit any individual cap size or shape. The clamp may be of any suitable material, such as relatively stiff metal, which will maintain the parts in clamped position as indicated in Fig. 4, but which may be released with the aid of a suitable tool it necessary.

To insert the shaping strip in the cap cover the ends may be secured together as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, and the strip bent to the approximate shape of the cap. The strip may then be inserted in the cap and the exact position of the bends 22 adjusted to more accurately fit in the corners of the cap.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration but it will be obvious that numerous modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In combination with a cap having a substantially flat crown portion and a depending wall portion, the juncture between the crown and wall portions being formed as a series of angularly related straight edges, a shaping strip for such cap comprising a concavo-convex band of spring material positioned inside the cap at the juncture of said crown and wall portions, said band having the concave portion facing outwardly against the interior of the cap and having bends fitted between successive pairs of said angularly related straight edge portions.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein the shaping strip is provided with means for adjustably securing the ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,422,366 Leger July 11, 1922 1,558,142 Brenner Oct. 20, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS 152,574 Great Britain Oct. 21, 1920 470,087 France June 6, 1914 

